The Best Mexican Restaurants In America (PHOTOS)

04/17/2012 08:14 am ETUpdated
Jun 17, 2012

Almost from the moment Americans have tried Mexican food, they have simultaneously devoured what's in front of them but also desired the next-great thing--the mythical "authenticity" quest, that idea that somehow what we're eating isn't the best possible Mexican dish to consume. It's an idea in Mexico, where the elite look on at our hard-shell tacos and foil-wrapped burritos in askance, as if we're soiling the Mexican tricolor with gusto, and also here in the United States, where celebrity chefs like Rick Bayless and Diana Kennedy deride anything with melted cheese on top and a slush frozen margarita

But the fact of the matter is that Mexican food in this country is as varied and delicious as what we find south of the border and--dare I say it?--as authentic as anything that Montezuma's descendants may make. Here in the United States, we combine the best of both worlds, the Mexican and the American, into creating baroque dishes with a timeless quality. But the United States is also an area where Mexicans forgotten in Mexico have been able to assert themselves with their own unique cuisine, frequently finding fans among Americans unlike in Mexico, where their culinary treasures wouldn't have been able to get them arrested. It's in the United States where Mexican food truly shines.

While there are tens of thousands of Mexican restaurants is the United States, I chose the following seven because they are all wildly different from each other and speak to different traditions. Enjoy!

Chubbys Drive-In has no dining room other than the beat-up tables outside, and a counter on which to lean on. But the lines stretch out until three in the morning for their Mexican hamburger, an only-in-Denver Mexican treat. Brace yourselves, folks: underneath a Syracuse Orangeman-hued chile lies the structure of a burrito--a flour tortilla containing refried beans, your choice of meat, and a grilled hamburger patty, almost extant in shape. On top of this is chile flecked with pork smothered completely over the burrito until it's little more than a beached whale over a viscous, spicy sea. The flour tortilla itself is cooked well until it becomes firm, almost crispy, so you can slice off a chunk of Mexican hamburger and it won't flop around on your fork as it enters your mouth. The patty sits in the center, well-done, its beefiness absorbing the pork fat of the chicharrones and the lard of the refried beans. When you order one, the Chubby's staff serves it on a cardboard plate, then puts another plate on top and staples them together, to ensure not a drop of the ambrosia spills and wastes. And, yes: they deliver via FedEx.